After Mary Kay Letourneau finished her prison sentence for rape of a child and registered as a Level 2 sex offender in Washington, that child, Vili Fualaau, petitioned the court to remove the no-contact order between the couple. As Fualaau was now 21 years old, a fully legal adult, and the couple had two children together, the courts granted his request.

Many people may have speculated whether Fualaau’s request was solely to allow Letourneau to co-parent their children or whether the couple truly were, as Letourneau claimed all along, soul mates who were truly in love. The couple seemed to verify the latter theory when they were married on May 20, 2005. At the time of their marriage, Letourneau was 43 years old and Fualaau was not quite 22.

After their marriage, the couple continued to raise eyebrows with various interviews and public appearances. The television show “Entertainment Tonight” covered their wedding and the couple also appeared on “Larry King Live” and in “People” magazine.

Likely the most shocking public appearances made by the pair were the so-called “Hot for Teacher” nights at the Fuel nightclub in Pioneer Square in Seattle, WA. Fualaau, who now also goes by the name DJ Headline, handled DJ duties for the evening, while Letourneau hosted. The third “Hot for Teacher” night gained national attention when a local news station came across advertising material for the event.

To some, these events seemed to put a lighthearted spin on the entire case. Attendees paid a $5 cover charge to enter and once inside, they could buy merchandise costing from $7-$20, including posters and t-shirts. Named after the popular 1980s song, the “Hot for Teacher” nights reignited debate about the couple.

Many men declared they wished they had a teacher like Letourneau when they were in school, calling it every boy’s fantasy. Many people of both sexes dismissed this cavalier perception of the case, saying that the law is the law, and willing or not, a boy of Fualaau’s age could not legally consent to sexual intercourse. These people often further pointed out that if the perpetrator had been male and the victim female, nowhere near as many people would find the relationship acceptable.

Love, lust, or mental illness aside, as of February 2011, Letourneau and Fualaau were still married and raising their two daughters together. The year 2011 also marks the couple’s sixth wedding anniversary, and if one counts the time Letourneau spent in prison, the relationship has lasted 15 years. Letourneau also became a grandmother for the first time in 2011, when her eldest son from her marriage to Steve Letourneau fathered a child.